State loss a blow to Merkel, but far from decisive

By The Associated Press
| 2:19 a.m.Jan. 21, 2013

German Chancellor and chairwoman of the German Christian Democrats, CDU, Angela Merkel attends a press conference after the party's weekly executive committee meeting in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says a state election loss months before a national vote was painful — but she's downplaying the implications for her quest for a third term. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
— AP

German Chancellor and chairwoman of the German Christian Democrats, CDU, Angela Merkel attends a press conference after the party's weekly executive committee meeting in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Jan. 21, 2013. German Chancellor Angela Merkel says a state election loss months before a national vote was painful — but she's downplaying the implications for her quest for a third term. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)
/ AP

BERLIN 
A defeat for Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition in a high-profile state election is a blow to the German leader as she seeks a third term later this year - but it's far from clear whether the opposition will be strong enough to oust the popular conservative.

The opposition Social Democrats and Greens narrowly ejected Merkel's center-right alliance from the government of Lower Saxony state in an election Sunday, winning a single-seat majority in its legislature.

National parliamentary elections are due in September. Sunday's vote saw a state governor from Merkel's Christian Democrats lose his job despite his personal popularity - and surveys show Merkel herself is considerably more popular than her coalition with the pro-market Free Democrats.

Opposition leader Sigmar Gabriel said Monday the outcome of September's election is "open."